Dozing off
by Cyroclastic
Summary: Danny often is so focused on his self-imposed job that he forgets he isn't invincible. With Sam and Tucker trying to help, shenanigans ensues and something unexpected happens which changes the entire game...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own DP.**

"Da… "

 _Whaa?_

"...ke up…"

 _Ugh no five more minutes…_

"...nturd needs his nap time, what a bab... "

 _Go away..._

"Mr Fen…"

 _Huh?_

"...ghost — "

"Huh?! What?! Where?!" Danny shot up from his desk, wiping a trail of drool from the corner of his mouth.

"Mr Fenton! I asked you a question." Mr Lancer frowned. "This is the third time this period I caught you wandering off to dreamland Mr Fenton. See me after class. Now as I was saying..." Mr Lancer turned back to the board and continued rambling on about some Shakespearean sounding junk — wait why did he have an upside down math book on the table — while Danny's eyes began to droop shut once more.

A series of small, crumpled pieces of paper shot across the room and bounced off his head onto the floor while a crinkled folded note plopped onto his table. Groggily, Danny reached for the note and unfolded it.

 _Dude r u ok? How many did u fight last nite?_

Danny grabbed a marker off the table scrawling "too many" on the paper before flicking it across the aisle without even looking. He let out a tired sigh and rested his head back on the table, his eyelids feeling heavier already.

The paper came back his way, this time with another set of handwriting on it.

 _Danny did you even get any sleep last night?_

His weary gaze turned to Sam and he gave a weak nod. Sam's furrowed-eyebrow frown belied she had seen through his pitiable lie. He dragged his eyes back to the board, his sleep addled brain too exhausted to make sense of the strange squiggles on the board.

Danny found himself drifting between the dreary classroom and some strange psychedelic ice cream parlour floating in space. He fumbled with an ice cream cone drifting by the counter and scooped some ice cream out of the massive floating tubs. Danny savoured the flavour of the frozen treat in his mouth, briefly wondering if his teeth were even real and how he still had teeth after being bashed in the face on numerous occasions both by dash and rogue ghosts. The ice cream in his hand turned into a pile of teeth when he wasn't looking. Danny didn't like teeth flavoured (gum flavoured?) ice cream so he chucked it away in disgust, the cold chill of the ice cream leaving his hand.

The ice cream parlour began to shake and crumble around him. A hand grabbed his shoulder and tugged him sideways to the door and out into the void of space. Wait! There was no air in space! How was he supposed to breathe? He would die! He struggled against the hand on his shoulder, his fingers scrambling for purchase on the counter as ice cream and tables and chairs got sucked through the door. The hand squeezed and sharp nails dug into his shoulder and he lost his grip, falling through the door which was now on the "floor" and suddenly —

He was back in the classroom, just as the bell began to ring. Sam let go of his shoulder and he rubbed it gingerly. She shot him an apologetic look. The rest of the class were already making a beeline out of school as Mr Lancer belatedly reminded them of the book report due next week. Danny was ready to follow when he heard Mr Lancer call his name. He sighed and shuffled towards the teachers desk. Tucker and Sam cast worried looks at Danny before heading outside to wait for him.

"Mr Fenton, lately you've been sleeping in my class more than usual. This past week alone you have spent more than practically every lesson I have with you sleeping. Now I don't know if — oh Robinson Crusoe Mr Fenton! Could you at least have the decency of staying awake when I'm talking to you?" Mr Lancers agitated shout startled Danny back into partial awareness.

"Sorry Mr Lancer."

Mr Lancer folded his arms and let out a frustrated sigh. "Danny, I know you can do better than this. What is keeping you up all night that you have to sleep in my class? Is it video games again or... is something going on at home?"

"No no, everything's fine at home." Danny raised his hands in defense.

"So, pray tell what activity of yours is keeping you so busy that you are so tired all the time?" Mr Lancer questioned, leaning forward.

"I'm… just a feeling kinda... stressed out right now." Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Lately dad has been trying to get Jazz and I more into ghosts so he's been dragging us down to the lab to ramble on about ghosts for hours so now I have even less time for homework, and even then I get distracted every hour because I have to go fight gho — uh… goblins! Yes, uh goblins… in Doomed… a video game. Yep, just a dumb video game hehe..." He stuttered out, withering under Mr Lancer's unimpressed look. He looked away scratching the back of his head, swaying slightly.

"Well in that case I think you better try spending less time on those "dumb video games" of yours hmm?" Mr Lancer frowned disapprovingly. "Either way, I'll try to talk to your father into giving you more time to study. Meanwhile I believe you should head home and get some rest, you look like the wind is going to blow you over at any moment. I doubt there is a point in giving you detention since you'd probably sleep through it. You are dismissed." Mr Lancer rose from his seat behind the teacher's desk, grabbing his bag as he moved towards the door.

"Oh, and one more thing, Mr Fenton, it's "Jazz and me" not "Jazz and I". He noted held the door open for Danny.

Sam and Tucker stood up straight from leaning against the wall outside the classroom, turning to the pair as they made their way out.

"Ms Manson, Mr Foley, could you please keep Mr Fenton out of trouble and away from his video games this weekend? It's for his own good." Mr Lancer requested.

"We will Mr Lancer." "Got it Mr Lancer." Sam and Tucker chimed simultaneously.

"Get some rest Mr Fenton, and don't forget the assignment!" Mr Lancer reminded as he walked away.

"Thanks Mr Lancer!" Danny called out, relieved that school was finally over.

 **Words: 1077**

 **Arc: 1.1**

 **A/N: lol Mr Lancer is cheesed off that Danny called Doomed a dumb video game.**

 **Also yay new fic? This one's gonna have more parts (hooray!) I just want more fluff and stuff for now so here's this. More AUs are coming along quite nicely right now, though Wasurenaide will probably be on hold until I actually have time for planning (december-ish). I want to get more stuff out by then.**

 **Please leave a review thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own DP.**

Danny's tried his best to stay upright and disguise his weariness, though he still swayed as he trudged down the pavement, turning down Tucker's offer to help him carry his bag.

"Danny I think you really need to get some rest when you get home. You should just ask Valerie to take care of the ghosts tonight. I mean, you two are on good terms now right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, but I don't want to leave her out there alone. She's good but what if some like the fright knight randomly decides to show up?" Danny said, fiddling with his bag straps.

"Well, technically she is a ninth degree black belt, though. You do realise she's more well trained than you, don't you? She can handle herself and you know it. Just ask her to cover for you for like a few nights a week, man." Tucker urged, putting away the game he was playing on his PDA.

"But what if someone sneaks up on her? She could get hurt if someone isn't there to watch her back. I've got better senses and reflexes as a ghost. Not to mention faster healing." Danny huffed.

"Danny, you're reflexes are terrible with how tired you are." Sam deadpanned.

"No they're not! I'm fine!" Danny exclaimed defensively, pouting at Sam

"Dude, just this week alone I've seen you fly into a billboard six times. Four of those times you repeatedly flew into the same billboard over and over again instead of just going around it." Tucker sniggered.

"I did not!" Danny cried out indignantly, his cheeks tinted red.

"See! You're so tired you can't even remember that!" Tucker snarked, "Besides, I'm sure the town will be fine without you going on patrol every night. Your parents can take the night shift with Valerie when you sleep."

"Why are you guys being so pushy? I told you, I can handle it. I don't want Valerie to lose sleep just because I decided to slack off."

"You heard Mr Lancer. He told us to "keep you out of trouble". That practically makes it like our weekend homework to make sure you get a decent sleep for once." Sam smirked. "Either way, you taking care of yourself isn't really "slacking off". Everyone needs to take a break from time to time."

"Since when do you even care about homework?" Danny whined.

"Since your nighttime ghost hunting starts affecting your health. You can barely stand up straight for two minutes! You're literally working yourself to the bone. How are you even supposed to protect Amity if you push yourself beyond exhaustion?" Sam challenged.

"Ugh fine. I'll ask Valerie if I see her later today alright? Happy?" Danny conceded.

"You better." Sam preened.

"Oh yeah, by the way dude, what was up with you in class?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were acting all weird in your sleep." Tucker replied. "First you grabbed onto your pencil and started freezing in half way through class while you were asleep, then your ghost sense went off and you didn't even respond, and then you chucked your eraser away and started making some paper float off the ground until Sam woke you up."

"Huh I don't remember doing that. Except the waking up part. Sam your nails are way too sharp."

"Well they did the job didn't they?"

"Yeah bu — " Danny was interrupted by a cloud of cold air that billowed out of his mouth.

"Oh no not again… I hope it isn't that swarm from last night. Those stinky bugs are so annoying." Danny groaned. He ducked into an alleyway and let the cool rings of his transformation wash over him.

"I'll meet you guys at my place when I'm d — oof! Ow…" Danny cried as he flew into a building. He staggered off in the direction he sensed the ghosts. Sam and Tucker looked at each other before silently deciding to follow.

Phantom arrived at the park to find a swarm of cat-sized spectral termites tearing up the trees with their oversized mandibles. He immediately leapt into action, firing ectoblasts left and right, though he barely managed to land any hits.

The termites noticed their brethren under attack and turned their attention to the offending ghost boy. Some termites began to fire ectolasers from between their mandibles while others spread their wings and began to rush at Phantom.

Phantom reached for his thermos only to realise it wasn't on him. "Oh fudge!" Phantom cursed as he turned to flee. He yelped in pain as a termite latched onto his ankle.

"Ow! Let go of me!" Phantom turned to try to pry the termite off his ankle while still flying backwards away from the swarm, only to crash into yet another billboard. The flying termites took the opportunity to close in on the vulnerable ghost boy from above while the artillery continued their pursuit from the ground, nailing Phantom with a few lasers.

Phantom hastily kicked the termite off his ankle and put up a shield around himself, straining under the relentless bombardment of mandibles and lasers. He was struggling to push his way through the swarm and towards FentonWorks when suddenly he caught familiar pink ecto blasts shooting his assailants. A pink flash went off, taking out a sizeable chunk of the swarm as well as Phantom's shield before and armoured arm reached in and yanked him out by the back of his collar.

"Thanks for the assist." Phantom panted. "This city has way to many billboards." He complained.

"Yeah, well we're not done yet." The Red Huntress said as she put Phantom on the back of her hoverboard and backed away a good distance. "Can you still fight?"

"What do you mean?"

"Phantom, you look like you're gonna pass out and your leg looks nasty." Red said, blasting an approaching termite away.

"My leg? What about my le — oh that is nasty…" Phantom replied, his head feeling foggy.

"I'll take that as a no. You best sit this one out, ghost."

"No no, I can do this." Phantom stood up wobbly only to fall off the hoverboard almost immediately. Red swooped down and snagged him by his good ankle before he could smash his face into the ground.

"Sure you can." Red deadpanned, clearly unimpressed. "Look you're clearly struggling so I suggest you stay out of my way while I take care of this mess, ghost." Red dropped him unceremoniously on the ground and rushed, guns blazing into the swarm.

"Ugh, why is everyone treating me like a little kid?" Phantom grumbled, sitting up and dusting himself off before chasing after Red. "Wait for me!"

Phantom clenched called his ectoplasm to his fist and thrust it forward creating a powerful blast which collided with a few flying termites and sent them crashing into a tree. He then charged up his other hand and swiped it in an arc, a wave of ectoplasm slicing through the air and knocking a few termites off their feet. Phantom was forced to land by a sudden wave of dizziness.

"Phantom look out!" Red yelled, blasting a few termites who were sneaking up on him using her shoulder cannons before turning to her own opponents.

The termites separated the two ghost hunters as they attacked, pushing them further away so they couldn't assist each other. Just as Phantom got backed into a corner, Sam and Tucker arrived, armed with wrist rays and lipstick blasters.

"Phantom, catch!" Sam tossed a thermos to Danny, accidentally hitting him on the head due to his delayed reaction. "Sorry!" she apologised sheepishly.

Phantom grabbed the fallen thermos and began to suck up the termites, quickly clearing out the swarm. "Don't forget to ask Val!" Tucker shouted as he flew to help Red.

Phantom raised a shaky hand to shoot a termite away from Red only to end up shooting her instead. "Watch it ghost!" was her aggravated reply.

Phantom and (mostly) Red worked together and the swarm was subsequently cleared. The duo landed on a nearby rooftop to catch their breath, Phantom opting to just lay down with his eyes closed after his legs gave out.

"Ghost. We can't fight together if you're so out of it all the time." Phantom pried opened his eyes to see Red face upside down. "Huh what?" He replied dumbly.

"Look, I can't keep getting distracted trying to save your butt in the middle of a fight. Either you shape up or call it quits." She scowled.

"Sorry I'm just tired." He sighed.

"Well then you better go get get some rest." She said sternly. "Need a lift?"

"That would be nice." Phantom sat up. Red hauled him onto her hoverboard. "Could you drop me off FentonWorks?"

"What do you want with the Fentons, ghost?"

"I gotta go home and sle — send the ghosts back through the portal! Yep, just putting the ghosts back into some far away corner of the zone."

"Uh huh." Red said, somewhat unconvinced, but set off towards FentonWorks regardless.

"Take care of yourself ghost. "

"Thanks Red."

Don't come back until you're better or I'll make you regret it!" Red zoomed off into the distance.

Danny turned invisible and phased into his room going straight for the bed before he finished transforming back into Fenton. He sent Sam and Tuck a quick message before promptly passing out.

 **Words: 1563**

 **Part: 1.2**

 **A/N: Btw is there too much dialogue or is this ok for a chapter? Do let me know if its too draggy. This is still arc 1 of 4 planned arcs, though i haven't thought much about after that yet.**

 **Also Danny is light as phantom that's why red can lift him easily.**

 **I think Danny tends to lose control over his powers when he's tired.**

 **Please leave a review! Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!**


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